A decade in the making, work to begin soon on Nicholson Square Park

Franklin County Library Systems held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their latest Bookmobile Library to Go vehicle on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at the Rutter's on South Main Street, Chambersburg. Rutter's is a sponsor for the Bookmobile.
Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion

Nicholson Square Park will be situated on a grassy area between Bassett and Powell drives and Clinton Avenue in the Nicholson Square neighborhood.(Photo11: Courtesy)

CHAMBERSBURG - More than 10 years after the land for it was set aside and a concept was designed, construction on Nicholson Square Park is set to begin.

Chambersburg Borough Council this week awarded a $256,000 construction contract to D.H. Martin, Chambersburg, for the first phase of the multi-phase project to turn the open grassy area into a recreation spot, according to a borough news release.

The park will be located in Nicholson Square, a borough neighborhood located north of Woodstock Road and east of Scotland Avenue, about a block from Chambersburg Area Middle School North. It will be situated between Bassett and Powell drives and Clinton Avenue. The land was donated to the borough in 2006 while the neighborhood was being built, according to the release.

The borough is home to a number of neighborhood parks, but Nicholson Square is about two miles away - about six minutes driving, and 35 minutes walking - from the closest one with a playground, Henninger Field.

Borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill said in the release, “Nicholson Square Park is important because there are so many young families living in the Borough’s First Ward with no nearby recreation facilities. This long-anticipated project will finally begin in 2018. It is our hope to get Phase 1 constructed as soon as possible.”

The first phase of the park will include a Tot Lot playground, a youth playground, a butterfly garden, a walkway around the playgrounds, and handicap-accessible parking spaces, according to Julie Redding of the recreation department, per the news release.

The budget for the first phase of the project is $398,000 - a $35,000 increase over the initial estimate, due to the addition of a picnic shelter and Phase 2 design costs being incurred while Phase 1 is ongoing, according to the release. Of the budget, nearly $141,000 has already been spent, including the cost for playground equipment which has already been received and is in storage.

The Nicholson Square Park will be constructed on a grassy field set aside more than 10 years ago for a park.(Photo11: Courtesy)

The Nicholson Square Homeowners Association pledged a donation of $50,000 toward this project. In addition, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded a $150,000 Community Conservation Partnerships Program grant to the borough to offset the cost of Phase 1.

Allen Coffman, council member for the borough's First Ward, where Nicholson Square is located, said he does not recall any other neighborhood making that size of a donation to build a park, and that the gift demonstrated commitment to completing the park's improvements.

This is the master plan for the Nicholson Square Park.(Photo11: Courtesy)

A plan is in the works to seek a grant for more than $200,000 to support costs associated with Phase 2 of the project, the borough's release said. "If that grant is awarded, and we have good reason to hope for its award, the overage that will have occurred in Phase 1 will be likely made-up in Phase 2 by the second grant. We do not believe we will be over budget at all by the end of Phase 2," the release further states.

The additional proceeds will come from available balances in the 2016 Recreation Bond. Nicholson Square Park is the third project to use the proceeds from the $9.75 million bond.

The biggest project taking advantage of the bond money is the Chambersburg Aquatic Center. The $7.7 million project to transform the outdated Memorial Park pool into a waterpark-like facility with multiple pools, a lazy river, three water slides and other features is expected to be completed in time for a Memorial Day weekend opening.

The other project will upgrade playground equipment and six of the borough's seven parks, for about $400,000.

Borough residents will pay for the bond over 20 years with a 3-mill tax increase.